Chris Jenkins is Oberlin Conservatory’s Associate Dean for Academic Support; liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and the deputy Title IX coordinator. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in 2001 and went on to receive his Master’s in Music from the New England Conservatory in 2003. Jenkins plays the viola and was granted a Performance Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music. He also holds a deep interest in human rights, and earned a Master’s in ...

Since the founding of Oberlin Conservatory in 1865, music has been one of the Oberlin community’s most powerful attributes. Now, with sociopolitical tensions from Standing Rock, ND, to the White House coming to a head, music stands to join both faculty-led and student organized conversations and movements as it becomes an increasingly potent form of activism. Last Wednesday’s teach-in, “Music Activism,” discussed this trend, and Saturday night saw another example with a student-run event called “Water is Life: Benefit Fest for Standing Rock Sioux,” which raised nearly a thousand dollars that will be donated to the Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council.
On Sunday, the Army Corps of Engineers denied Energ...